Asphyxia
by Deplora
Summary: A memory from the past; a hope for the future; a heart wrenching decision to make. Sometimes, just breathing is overwhelming. Post KH II, slightly AU, and a slight crossover with FFVII. LeonxYuffiexVincent  Squffentine!
1. Prologue

AN: (9/27/2010) So... it's been a really long time since I attempted to write anything other than drabbles, but I've gotten the bug again. I think it has to do with being stressed out-I'm nearly finished with my Master's degree, and I'm working a fulltime job. It doesn't leave much time for relaxing. Anyhow, here is my new baby. Originally, I was going to wait until it was finished to post, but I'm impatient. No promises on how fast I update. And, this is slightly AU and slightly a crossover with FFVII. But, really? Kingdom Hearts is one big crossover on its own.

Also, I'm trying not to step on any toes and accidently borrow ideas from other fics; there are so many KH and FFVII fics out there that I've read that it's hard to distinguish between your own idea and something you've read. I've already had to go back and change a few scenes because I realized they had an awful lot in common with scenes in other fics.

If any of my old fanfic friends are reading this, HI! I know, it's been a looong time. I just haven't had any inspiration.

Disclaimer: I own the idea and nothing else.

And now, without further adieu:

_Asphyxia_

Prologue

The nightmare rolled through her mind, crashing through her defenses built up long ago; it would not let itself be ignored. All she could see and hear are things remembered from long ago-an escape from a planet on the brink of death.

Yuffie, now eighteen, tossed and turned in her bed, letting out the occasional cry as screams tried to claw their way out of her throat. A whimpered "Mama..." manages to escape her throat, and a few tears make paths down her frightened face.

_They were running, her mother gripping her hand in a fierce grip and her father keeping the monsters away the best he was able to with an ancient staff. His body had grown relaxed after years of peace, and the once proud warrior was not much better than an old crone at keeping the shadow beasts away from his family._

_"Yuffie! We must hurry!" her mother encourages as Yuffie's legs begin to tire and give out. Kasumi Kisaragi reached down to pick her seven year old daughter up and carry her. A pained shout from her husband Godo causes Kasumi to turn toward the sound only to see him surrounded by the beasts. _

_"Get to the ship!" he orders while fighting off the creatures._

_Crying, Kasumi simply nods her head with tears coursing down her alabaster cheeks as she runs. Yuffie holds onto her mother's neck and watches her father be pushed into a corner by the beasts. By now, she is sucking her thumb for comfort with wide, terrified eyes seeing everything they fly past._

_Suddenly, gunshots are heard behind them, and Yuffie knows _everything_ will be okay now because Vinnie is coming and _nothing_ can beat him. _

_He comes into view, running even faster than Kasumi and, with one hand shoots the creatures surrounding Godo and uses the other hand, the one with the brass gauntlet, to tear into their bellies, inky blood dripping from his claws to the floor. His crimson cape swirls around him, giving the illusion of a blood-filled battle._

_Unexpectedly, Yuffie feels herself and her mother falling towards the floor, a strangled cry coming from her mother's throat. Terrified, Yuffie turns her head to see what has caused them to fall and sees one of the shadows clawing its way up her mother's legs, entangling them within its own as they all fall down._

_"Yuffie, run!" her mother shouts as she lets go of her. But Yuffie can't move; she's utterly petrified. She stands there, too scared to scream, too scared to cry, too scared to do anything other than cry quietly when strong arms pick her up and sling her over a shoulder. She begins kicking, afraid one of the monsters got her when her vision is filled with crimson. As her legs stop their kicking, she feels the pricks of cold metal on her legs, and she calms and grips his cape. This is Vinnie, and _nothing_ can hurt her when he's around._

_His run is smooth; she can barely feel the jarring motion she feels when her father carries her like this; but his run stops all too soon, and she is passed over to other hands, smaller hands. As she looks up, she realizes that it's Aerith that holds her now, hugging Yuffie to her breast while she cries._

_"You need to leave," Vinnie tells the others and begins to turn away and return to battle. Yuffie tries to break free of Aerith's grasp, still too scared to make a sound._

_"What about you, Valentine?" the pilot asks. Yuffie looks around, and sees Cid. He's _almost_ as safe as Vinnie, but not quite._

_"I will stay here."_

_"Dammit, Valentine! You're asking me to fuckin' leave you _here_?" Aerith tries to cover Yuffie's ears at the foul language, but she keeps squirming and trying to get to Vinnie. "And what about Godo and Kasumi?"_

_The look Vinnie gives Cid says it all. Even Yuffie, at seven years old, can read what is said in Vinnie's eyes, and her quiet tears increase. "Leave, now," Vinnie tells Cid again. "I can only hold them off for so long." He reloads his triple-barrel gun as everyone hears the scratching of thousands of claws scurrying across the launching pad._

_Cid finally takes Vinnie at his word and begins to raise the platform. As it closes, Yuffie sees one last glimpse of Vinnie as the monsters overwhelm him and drag him to the ground. She turns her head, and out of the corner of her eye, she spots large, black and red wings rising above the shadows. Then the platform closes, and she sees nothing but dull metal._

"Vinnie!" Yuffie jerked awake and abruptly sat up, eyes wide in terror and tears still coursing down her face. She was suddenly seven years old again and still new to the terror that ran her life for more than ten years.

Gasping for breath, she looked around and recognized her room. She was not seven years old again but still eighteen, she realized with relief as she tried to shake the dream off. She was not at her once home, but instead in Radiant Garden. But, her parents were still dead, and Vinnie was still gone.


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I own the idea and nothing else.

_Asphyxia_

Chapter One

The sound of rain pounding down upon her roof pulled Yuffie from her light sleep; after a nightmare, she can rarely reach deep sleep for the rest of the night. She blearily stared at her ceiling before moving her gaze to the rain streaming down her window. A shiver racked her body, and she reached over to her space heater to crank up the heat. It was that time of year in Radiant Garden where it wasn't quite cold enough for snow and ice, but instead an icy rain poured down from the sky nearly daily. It could make the most cheerful people become utterly depressed.

Sighing, Yuffie rolled over and wrapped her blankets tighter around her. It has been a long time since she had a nightmare about her parents—even longer since she had one about Vincent. Most days, she tried to forget her long ago past and focus only on the present. But, when they invaded her sleep, nightmares forced her to remember her home and those lost.

She missed her own Planet and home, where she lived until she and the others left it twelve years ago. Radiant Garden was her second home and had become a refuge for those on the ship with Cid Highwind.

"And Leon," she murmured, remembering the gunblade wielder and her secret crush when she was younger. They met him here, wandering around and looking as lost as they were. Apparently, his home world had also succumbed to the Heartless, and he was forced to abandon it. From what they had learned from Leon, he only left his planet after he had been physically forced to board the escape pod; he never knew if anyone else from his planet had also survived.

Not much later, they once again were forced to flee. Luckily, Cid had kept his ship in working order, and they abandoned Radiant Garden without much of a fight. They were simply too tired and battle worn to attempt to fight back, not to mention the fact that all but Cid were still kids. There were plans for everyone to be loaded onto the ship as soon as the Heartless breached the wall surrounding the city. However, when that happened, they were two short; Cloud and Tifa had disappeared and left no clue to find them. Running out of options, Cid was forced to make a hard decision and made Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie board the ship for departure. The only thing they could do was pray for their friends.

They spent nine long years in Traverse Town, never seeing the sun and living in an endless night. For the first few weeks, Aerith was inconsolable as Tifa was her best friend, despite the age difference, and Cloud her first pseudo-boyfriend. After a few years though, they were all but a memory. And, in Yuffie's case, they were just a very vague memory as she was hardly around the two at her young age.

Hope, however, soon came into their lives in the form of a fourteen year old boy wielding the Keyblade. Sora, chosen to defeat the Heartless and restore order to the worlds, set out with his two companions and began the process of clearing the many worlds of their Heartless. It was a long journey for Sora, but soon, the first phase of his mission was completed, and the Traverse Town refugees were cleared to return to their homes.

When they finally returned to Radiant Garden, known then as Hollow Bastion, Cloud also was returned to them and Tifa soon after. Neither of them spoke of their experiences, but both were irrevocably changed; Tifa had somehow become even more cheerful and optimistic while Cloud became the opposite—depressed and pessimistic. Many supposed that Tifa's new attitude was to counterbalance Cloud's newfound broodiness.

Life, however, went on. And, a year after returning to their second home and making progress in restoring it, disaster struck again. More Heartless came, followed soon after by creatures called Nobodies. Of course, Sora was right on the tails of these creatures arrival and got down to the heart of the problem, so to speak. The Heartless and Nobodies disappeared, but Sora had not been seen since.

Now, two years after Sora's return and disappearance, Radiant Garden was beginning to live up to its name. Aerith, who had always had a way with helping plants to grow, had cleaned up the long-abandoned gardens and planted new, beautiful plants. During the spring and summer months, these gardens were full of colors and lush foliage. Autumn brought the turning of the leaves, bright oranges, reds, and yellows. And, winter, of course, brought the snow and ice to create a literal winter wonderland.

Yuffie glared out the window at the cold rain falling. In spite of the seasons, it was the time of year at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter that brought the horrible weather she was now experiencing. It was the one time of the year that nothing could be done to help Radiant Garden live up to its name; instead, many began to wonder if they should call it Hollow Bastion again during these times.

Unfortunately, it was also this time of year that Yuffie's birthday landed. How such a normally cheerful and upbeat person could possibly have a birthday at this time of year stumped everyone, Yuffie included.

And, now, as her birthday would fall in just a few days, Yuffie knew that if she were to head to their headquarters and general meeting place, she would find Leon and Cloud there, trying not to let their boredom show, while Tifa and Aerith would pull out a big whiteboard (the one used for battle plans) and make party plans. Even funnier, both women would be trying their hardest to get the two brooding swordsman to _contribute_, meaning they would feign their approval by grunting.

That thought brought a small smile to her face, and Yuffie decided it was time to get up and interrupt the planning session. It would be a treat to see the shocked expressions on Aerith and Tifa's faces, and, hopefully, it would be worth the beating she might possibly receive from the Premium Heart and Princess Guard. Yuffie had been on the receiving end of both girls' weapons in the past for one prank or another, and she always wondered how a pair of gloves and a staff could possibly hurt so much.

However, before she could head down to Cid's house, their current headquarters and at one time Merlin's house, she would need a very hot shower to help pull the chill from her bones. Sighing mournfully as she crawled out from her warm cocoon of blankets, she hurriedly picked out her clothes for the day and rushed into the bathroom and shower.

-0-

By the time Yuffie made it to Cid's house, her clothes were soaked through; she had never been one to carry an umbrella as it hampered her movement, so she said. After leaving her house, she had quickly regretted not bringing an umbrella as her clothes were not made for rain as it just seeped through the material and onto her skin. The rain had also completely flattened her hair and it now hung in lanky chunks around her face, nearly reaching her shoulders.

Shivering and shaking her head to throw some of the water off, Yuffie stood on the front step and under the eaves of Cid's house before throwing the door open and walking into the room. As she stood there dripping, she saw that everything was pretty much like she had thought it would be.

Aerith and Tifa stood frozen with markers poised in the air as Yuffie stood and smirked at them while Leon and Cloud looked up at her. Leon nodded his head slightly in greeting, long mahogany locks falling slightly into his eyes. "Somehow," Yuffie said as she motioned with her hands, which were still trembling a bit from the cold, at everyone, "I just _knew_ I would find everyone here."

"Yuffie, you're dripping on the floor!" Aerith scolded as she was the first of the women to come out of the surprised stupor caused by Yuffie's entrance. Aerith approached Yuffie and grabbed a mop that was standing next to the door. "Clean it up before someone slips and falls."

That was so like Aerith. So what if Yuffie interrupted surprise party plans. The only thing that was important was to make sure no got hurt from slipping in a puddle of water. Yuffie laughed quietly and did as she was told, watching out of the corner of her eye as Tifa quickly covered the whiteboard with a sheet that was handily nearby. Apparently, they had suspected that they would be interrupted.

"Yuffie?" Tifa asked as she laid a hand across the younger girl's shoulder. "You need to change clothes. You're going to catch a cold if you don't."

Yuffie just looked at her for a moment before replying. "And, what, exactly, am I gonna change into? I don't have any clothes here. And I'm not going to wear anything of Cid's."

The man in question walked into the room and took one look at Yuffie before going back down the hall. Yuffie shrugged and looked at Tifa and Aerith in question. Almost synchronized, they both raised their eyebrows and looked back.

"So, anyways," Yuffie started, deciding to ignore Cid's entrance and sudden exit, "is _anything_ going on here that I need to know about?" She gave them all a sly look.

"Torture," Cloud said from his place against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He raised his eyes to her for a moment before looking across at Tifa and Aerith's now narrowed eyes.

Leon watched the young women as well before replying to Cloud's statement, "Very brutal." He smirked as the narrowed eyes were now turned on him.

"If you feel _that_ way, then why don't you just leave? Tifa and I can finish by ourselves," Aerith huffed, glaring daggers at one man before turning and doing the same at the other. It was rare for Aerith to become angry, but when she did, you better look out. Once she had got her point across, she left the room, nearly running into Cid as she pushed past him.

"Dammit, which one of you made her angry?" He eyed everyone before settling his gaze on Cloud. "You never could hide it when you were guilty, kid." Cid then looked at Leon. "I figure you're involved, too." He brushed past them and tossed a towel to Yuffie on his way to his computer. "Get yourself dry, brat."

In the background, Yuffie was trying to hold her laughter back as she toweled her hair dry before starting on her clothes. She always found situations such as these funny… as long as Aerith's anger wasn't aimed at her.

"Guys, did you forget that it was Aerith's turn to cook tonight?" Tifa asked sharply. Both men paled. "Yeah, that's right. If Aerith's not cooking tonight because she's mad, that means both you _will _be." She turned to Yuffie, "And, I don't see what's so funny about this situation, Yuffie. We both know that if they're cooking, it won't be edible."

Yuffie sobered immediately, now limply holding her towel. "Crap. I thought we forbid them from cooking?" She glared at the men and looked at the door Aerith went through pointedly. "Someone go apologize. You might be able to salvage dinner!"

Leon sighed heavily and rubbed his scar before pushing off the wall and grabbing Cloud by the arm. "C'mon, I'm not doing this alone." He released Cloud's arm when the blond started to follow him.

"If they feel that way about our cooking, maybe we should just cook all the time," Cloud quipped with a raised eyebrow as they left the room.

Rolling her eyes, Yuffie went back to drying herself as best as she could without removing her clothing then moved closer to the fireplace where a rather large fire was heating the room. She sat down on the hearth. Tifa soon followed her.

"Why the long face, Yuffie? It can't all be because of the prospect of a dinner made by Leon and Cloud," Tifa said, leaning back towards the fire and stretching her arms above her head.

Yuffie sighed and looked down at her feet. "Tifa, you remember Vincent, don't you?"

Cid interrupted, apparently listening in on their conversation. "Valentine? Who the fuck could forget him! He was creepy as hell," he exclaimed as he turned around in his chair.

"Cid, he saved my life," Yuffie replied indignantly. "I would've been Heartless chow if it wasn't for him!"

"I didn't say he wasn't a good man. But, even you can't deny he was creepy."

Before the argument could escalate, Tifa silenced them both by answering Yuffie's original question. "Yes, Yuffie, I remember him. He saved all of our lives." She glared pointedly at Cid, daring him to deny her words. "Why do you ask?"

"I had a dream about him last night. Well, nightmare really. It was about the night we left _home_." The emphasis she put on the word 'home' let Tifa and Cid know that she was talking about their first home, their true home.

Tifa leaned over and hugged her. "Oh, Yuffie," she sighed. You were so young at the time. That was something you should never have seen."

Shaking his head, Cid joined the conversation. "That was something _none_ us should have seen… a man like Valentine going down like that."

"Going down?" Yuffie asked confused, looking at both of them. "But he didn't go down! I saw the Chaos wings," she insisted at their doubting looks.

"Yuffie…" Tifa began, "we know you _wanted_ to see that, but it didn't happen. The Heartless… they killed him." By the end of her statement, Tifa had tears in eyes.

"But-," Yuffie began, only to be interrupted.

"But nothing. He went down just like everyone else." Cid had a harsh look in his eyes, but Yuffie knew it was only to hide his emotions. He did this every time someone mentioned the fall of their home.

"Who went down?" Aerith had come back into the main room, all traces of anger gone from her eyes; the apologies must have worked. Leon and Cloud soon followed behind her.

Yuffie looked at Aerith pleadingly, begging her to back her up. "Vincent. They said that the Heartless took him down. They don't believe me I say that I saw-"

"The Chaos wings?" Aerith looked at Cid in confusion. "You didn't see them, Cid?"

Tifa stood up from her spot on the hearth, looking at Aerith. "Wait, wait, wait… you saw them, too?"

"Who could miss them?"

"Now, look, even if you both _think _you saw the Chaos wings, that doesn't mean he survived," Cid said, leaving his computer for later as he joined the others in front of the fireplace.

Deciding to join the conversation, Cloud looked up at them before speaking, "Vincent was… different. Suppose he did survive?"

Leon glanced at everyone around him as they talked about a man he had never met and had only heard of in passing, mostly from Yuffie who seemed to have idolized him when she was younger. "Different how?" he asked, wanting to finally learn more about the man from a source more reliable than Yuffie.

"Leon," Yuffie chided, "I've told you about him, remember? Tall, dark, long red cape, fairly quiet, a huge gun, and a gauntlet better described as a claw, because, hey, a three barreled gun is sometimes _just not enough_ to get the job done."

"That's _not_ what I meant, Yuffie."

"He…" Aerith started, stopping for a moment to gather her words. "Vincent was the subject of several experiments. They…"

"He was able to change form when needed," Yuffie supplied for Aerith. "_And_, he was basically immortal which is why I think he survived the Heartless invasion." She looked at Cid pointedly as she finished her statement.

"Now, look," Cid began, looking at each of them in the eye before moving to the next person, "before you get any harebrained ideas, we ain't-"

"I want to go look for him!" Yuffie cried out before Cid could finish his objection to the idea. "He's still there, and we just went off and left him. He's probably crawled back to coffin in his basement to 'atone' for letting anyone die."

Everyone but Leon looked at her strangely. "Yuffie," Tifa began, "how do you know about his so-called atonement?"

Yuffie snorted. "Just because I was a kid didn't mean I didn't listen. Do you know how many times I heard him talk about Lucrecia and atonement?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyways, that's what I want for my birthday. The use of a Gummi ship to go back to the Planet."

_AN: So ends Chapter One. (10/11/10)_


	3. Chapter Two

_AN: First, I would like to thank my reviewers: balfonheim, QwicklyAlong, skyblaze112, AmbivalentAngyl, and KibaCanLickMe. I really appreciate the reviews._

_Also, another thanks goes to balfonheim for beta-ing this chapter for me._

_Disclaimer:_ _I own the idea and nothing else._

_Asphyxia_

Chapter Two

"Now what did I say about harebrained ideas?" Cid yelled, pointing a finger at Yuffie. "You ain't borrowing a Gummi to go search for someone who's dead!"

"He's _not_ dead!" Yuffie huffed. "How many times do I have to say that?"

Aerith stepped forward and placed a hand on Yuffie's still damp shoulder. "Yuffie, I know that you think he may still be alive, but..." she trailed off; she didn't want to finish her sentence and instead look pleadingly at the ninja.

"But nothing! You said you saw the Chaos wings, too!"

"Just because I saw the wings doesn't mean he's still alive. It's been twelve years. A lot could happen in twelve years!"

"And he's Vincent! You know he's faced monsters as bad if not _worse_ than the Heartless!" Yuffie was quickly becoming frustrated, and hoped she could keep it under control. Everyone knew that the more frustrated she became, the more likely she was to start crying against her will. "I mean, if anyone could, he'd be the one to survive."

Cloud glanced up from his newly regained spot against the wall near the fireplace. "I hate to agree with her, but Yuffie has a point. We all know how strong Vincent was, and his other forms would add some extra protection."

"Yeah, and look at Cloud!" Yuffie pointed at him. "He survived the darkness for nine years, and he was just thirteen when he and Tifa were separated from us."

"You forget, Yuffie," Leon began, a hand rubbing the back of his neck, "that Cloud forgot who he was and fell under Hades' control. I don't think using him as an example is such a great idea."

Cid guffawed as he remembered Cloud's appearance when he was returned to them. "Did you forget, brat, that Cloud was so fucked up when he came back that he half thought _he_ was Vincent?"

"Cid is right, you know, Yuffie," Tifa said, laughing slightly at the memory. "Remember the red cape and gold claw Cloud had?"

In the background, Cloud seemed a bit chagrined at the mention of his past personality dissociation. "Being in the dark for that long... it starts to do things to you. You... you don't know who you are, where you are, anything." Cloud paused for a moment and stared at the floor while he tried to gather his words; whenever someone brought up his past in the darkness, he had a hard time talking about it. "I... I just wanted to grasp onto something, and all the darkness and solitude reminded me of Vincent, what little I knew about him." When he raised his eyes, everyone was staring at him. "I didn't _want_ to hold onto Vincent; it's just… I became so dark that I began to imitate the darkest person I knew."

"But, don't you see? The darkness can't hurt Vincent! He's already dealt with stuff much worse than the darkness of the Heartless. He slept in a coffin forever! The Heartless go for the light in your heart, but Vincent doesn't _have _any light in his heart!" Yuffie was beginning to become desperate to get someone on her side. Cloud was with her a moment ago, but after all his talk about darkness and what it did to him, he had given the others more fuel _against_ searching for Vincent.

Leon, who was still leaning against the wall, turned to Yuffie when he heard the desperation in her voice. He had dealt with her frustrated tears many times in the past and knew she was near her breaking point. "Maybe we should finish this discussion tomorrow, after everyone has had time to think on it."

Yuffie glanced at him meaningfully, though whether she wanted to thank him or berate him would remain a mystery. Cid interrupted, "There is no discussion! No one is taking a goddamn Gummi back to the Planet. End of the fuckin' discussion." He threw his hands up in the air and turned back to the computer, muttering, "Times like these I could really use some goddamn tea."

Aerith, ever the peacemaker, wrapped an arm around Yuffie's shoulder. "Come on, Yuffie, let's go talk about your birthday. It's in only three days, now." She started walking the younger girl out of the room. "Are you coming, Tifa?"

"Sure. Let me go make some lunch first, and then I'll be right there." She was all smiles now - forced smiles, but smiles none the less. None of them liked talking about their real home, especially not the people each one of them had had to leave behind. Tifa had left her father. Her mother had died years before, so it was just the two of them. They had grown very close despite how protective he could be. Even after twelve years, she missed him. She shook her head slightly and wiped away a few tears before looking up, only to come face to face with Cloud.

He reached his hand out and wiped away a tear Tifa had missed. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, staring at her worriedly.

She smiled and gave a small, half-hearted laugh. "I'm fine. I was just thinking of the past."

Cloud nodded in understanding before lightly squeezing her shoulder and leaving the house.

-0-

Hours later, well into the evening, Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie were all giggles; this was partially due to the mixed drinks Tifa had now brought them. Despite Yuffie's young age, she was occasionally allowed to imbibe with the rest of them-in moderation, of course. And tonight, Tifa could see that of them all, Yuffie needed the little bit of alcohol the most. Of course, this made discussing birthday plans a _bit _more interesting.

"No, no. I'm _telling_ you, we need to have a male stripper! I mean, c'mon, I'm turning nineteen! I'm more than legal, and I need some fun!" Yuffie insisted, taking another swallow of her drink s she began to tilt slightly towards the floor. Despite the small amount of alcohol in her drink, she never could hold her liquor as well as the rest of them.

The alcohol had loosened Aerith up as well, and she giggled and set her drink on the small end table next to couch they were all sitting on. "Well, maybe we could get _Leon_ to help us out in that department," she teased, knowing that Yuffie had had a crush on him since she was about fourteen years old.

Yuffie sobered immediately and gripped her drink tightly. "No," she said simply, voice ice cold and eyes glaring at the wall in front of her, all traces of drunkenness gone for the moment. "Don't bring him into this."

Both Tifa and Aerith were taken back in surprise, trying to grasp the situation through their slight alcohol buzz. "Yuffie," Tifa started, "are you- are you okay?"

"Couldn't be better!" Yuffie smiled brightly again. "I am just _so_ over Squall-I mean, Leon. I should've seen it years ago that we are _so_ not meant to be. I mean," she was babbling, which either meant she was completely plastered-which was possible-or she was really upset and hiding it, "I'm like all cheery and optimistic and he's all '_No, Yuffie, there's nothing to be happy about. We have to angst and brood for the rest of our lives. Oh, and don't call me Squall. It's Leon Leonhart now'_ and like that doesn't sound stupid? _Leon_ Leonhart? People will think his parents didn't know how to name a kid."

As Yuffie babbled, Tifa and Aerith looked at each other over the top of the ninja's head. This wasn't like her; even when drunk, she still spoke about Leon with enough care and reverence that it was easy to see that she adored him. And now she was making fun of him? "_Is she okay?" _Tifa mouthed to Aerith, who just shrugged her shoulders and peered back down at Yuffie, who was still babbling.

"'-_and you're too young, Yuffie, so you wouldn't understand-"_

"Yuffie," Aerith interrupted gently, "why don't we walk you home, and we can finish discussing your party tomorrow, hmm?"

Briefly taken by surprise - she had forgotten she wasn't alone in the room - Yuffie brought her gaze up to Aerith, who had now risen from the couch. "Sure, sure, just as long as we don't run into Broody McBroodster or his twin-well, I guess really, I can't call Cloud his _twin_ because he doesn't look like _Leon_ at all, but they act like each other a lot of the times, and it if you couldn't see what they looked like, it might be hard to tell them apart. But, of course, we _can_ see what they look like so we can tell them apart-" Yuffie was interrupted by Tifa's had covering her mouth.

Tifa sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling. "Yuffie, I don't think I'll be giving you alcohol for a long time," she muttered under her breath as she used her other hand to grip the ninja by her upper arm and haul her to her feet. "Now, if you can be _quiet_ for a few minutes, I'll take my hand off."

Giggling, Aerith let go of the arm she had been holding and watched Yuffie struggle to stand. "Do you think you can walk?"

"Of course I can walk." She emphasized her words by trying to take a step forward, but was stopped by Tifa, who still held onto her other arm. "D'ya think you could let go now, Boobs?"

Tifa took a deep breath and reminded herself that Yuffie was _drunk_ and probably didn't mean to call her by that horrid nickname that she had forbid the ninja from _ever_ using. She abruptly let go of Yuffie's arm. "There you go," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice, a voice that usually preceded Tifa's anger.

Oblivious to Tifa's mood change and the danger of hearing _that_ voice, Yuffie tried to walk a few steps only to stumble and nearly fall against the table. "Well, I _could_ walk if the room would quit moving," she grumbled as she leaned on the table.

"Come on, Yuffie," Aerith said gently as she held back her laughter. "You can walk in between Tifa and me, and we'll steady you." Taking her by the upper arms again, Aerith and Tifa both guided Yuffie out of the now quiet house.

-0-

What was normally a relatively short walk took the girls three times as long thanks to a drunk Yuffie. But, luckily, the rain had stopped earlier, and they only had wet roads to deal with. Well, wet, slick roads that made it hard to walk sometimes. It also didn't help that Yuffie had chosen a house that was at the top of a hill; even worse, her bedroom was on the second floor. Tifa and Aerith vowed that next time Yuffie was drunk, she could sleep on Cid's couch.

They hauled her to her bed, pulled back the covers, and gently pushed her onto the mattress, where she promptly fell back and passed out. Sighing, Aerith untied Yuffie's boots and placed them on the floor before covering the girl with blankets. As they were leaving, she turned to Tifa. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

Tifa seemed surprised at Aerith's question. "Yes," she said slowly in confusion, "she's been like this before, remember?"

Aerith shook her head. "I'm not talking about that. I mean with all this Vincent stuff and then there's the drama with Leon..." she trailed off. "I just wish I knew what had happened there."

Tifa sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as they left Yuffie's house. "I think this stuff about searching for Vincent is a passing fancy. She had a dream about him last night, you know?"

Surprised, Aerith shook her head. "No, I didn't know. When did she mention this?"

"Earlier. I think you were out of the room."

"Did she say what it was about?"

Tifa grimaced. "She said it was about the night we had to leave... the night the Heartless attacked."

Aerith murmured a small _oh_ as she covered her mouth. "She was so young, then."

"We all were," Tifa reminded her, shuddering a bit at the memory of that night. "But, Yuffie... I think she saw the worst of it. Her parents went down right in front of her, and then Vincent..." She shook her head. "I just... I don't see how she can be so upbeat most of the time after seeing that."

"She strong. Stronger than we think," Aerith replied to Tifa's unspoken question. "And something apparently happened between her and Leon."

Tifa rolled her eyes towards the other woman. "Well, _everyone_ knows she's had a crush on him since she was what, thirteen?"

"Fourteen," Aerith corrected. "But something's changed." She stopped walking for a moment and just scanned at the houses around her. "She barely even spoke to him tonight, and even then, it was only to talk about Vincent..."

"She called him Leon, too, instead of Squall," Tifa added and concentrated on remembering the conversation earlier in the night. "When did she start calling him Leon?"

Aerith's eyes slivered as she tried to recall. "About... three months ago?" Her eyes opened wide. "Isn't that about when she-"

"Moved out? Yeah," Tifa agreed, still trying to fit the pieces together. "So, something happened about three months ago that made her want to stay away from Leon, enough that she would move out on her own and away from us, too." They had finally reached the large house they shared with Leon, Cloud, and, previously, Yuffie, until she unexpectedly decided to leave, claiming she needed her own space.

"Why haven't we noticed before now?" Aerith berated herself for not noticing her almost little sister's now-obvious distress.

"She's been hanging out with Yuna, Paine, and Rikku a lot lately-searching for treasure, she says. I think she's just trying to stay away from him."

"I think... I think we need to have a talk with Leon and find out what he said to Yuffie to upset her so much," Aerith said and quirked an eyebrow at her own front door.

Tifa nodded in agreement before unlocking and opening the door, hoping to find Leon in the house. However, he could not be found in any of his normal haunts downstairs, and when they approached his bedroom, the door was open and he was not in the room.

-0-

The next morning, Yuffie woke to a pounding headache, nauseous stomach, and very dry mouth. She lay there for a moment to remember _why_ exactly she was like this. She couldn't remember fighting any noxious monsters that could poison her, nor could she remember falling off anything and hitting her head. Oh, wait-that's right. Tifa had given her a drink last night after dealing with the whole Vincent argument earlier in the day.

"Vincent?" Yuffie said aloud, rubbing her head as her headache worsened. She struggled to fight against the headache and remember what was said. It came back to her slowly: the argument, Cid telling her she couldn't use a Gummi, and most everyone believing Vincent was dead.

Well, Yuffie wasn't going to give up that easily. She gingerly crawled out of the bed and hurriedly stumbled to bathroom as her stomach protested the movement. Things she couldn't even remember eating came up, and once she felt she could move again, she flushed the toilet. She grabbed onto the side of the sink and hauled herself to her feet before she began to rummage around in the cabinet for some aspirin.

She couldn't just sit here and let a stupid hangover hold her down. She had plans to make. Big plans.

_AN: Drunk!Yuffie was not planned. She just happened. So did the conversation between Aerith and Tifa. I had other things planned for this chapter, but what can I say? The characters wanted to do something different._

_Reviews: never required, always appreciated._


	4. Chapter Three

_AN: I'm so sorry for the delay! This chapter took me longer than I thought it would. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far._

_-0-_

_Asphyxia_

Chapter Three

For the next few days, Yuffie seemed to be back to normal; she never mentioned Vincent, and she never mentioned going back to their Planet to search for him. Everyone began to relax again, having decided that this was just a passing fancy. Cid had even let the temporary guards—which were the neighborhood kids—he had placed in the Gummi garage stop their patrols; of course, if Yuffie had intended to borrow (steal) a Gummi, they would have been unable to stop her. Very few can stop a ninja with a mission.

However, while everyone _thought_ Yuffie had forgotten about Vincent, the ninja had been making plans and preparing herself for her escape. The days following the argument, Yuffie spent her time divided between keeping up appearances and secretly stocking up on supplies she would need. She knew she could count on Huey, Dewey, and Louie to keep their mouths shut about how many potions, ethers, and accessories she had purchased as well as the new armor she had acquired; a little extra munny and a threat to tell their Uncle Scrooge who messed up his last batch of experimental ice cream always did the trick.

She had also spent one day watching Cid's house; she waited until Cid had left and picked his lock. Once inside, she quickly dashed to the closet where he kept items from their past and grabbed a metal lockbox. She knew he had placed all the materia they had escaped with inside the box, and she would need it once she reached their Planet as a way to access the magic contained in the Lifestream.

Yuffie made her escape from Cid's house with the lockbox and took it back to her own home to sort through. As the materia could not be used on this world, Cid rarely worried about it and would not notice it was missing until Yuffie was long gone. At least, that's what she was hoping for.

By the time her birthday had arrived, Yuffie had already decided this would be the best day for her to leave. No one would expect her to miss her own party; after all, she was still seen as a child by most of the group due to her younger age. Of course, others would say it wasn't just because of her age, but the way she acted at times as well. However, the fact remained that everyone would be expecting her to be _there_ when she would really be on her way _home_.

-0-

Waking up before dawn, Yuffie grabbed the bag in which she had stuffed all of her supplies and left her house; she was relying on the cover of darkness to keep anyone from spotting her. Luckily, the Gummi garage was located near her house, and the trip through the early morning darkness would be short. She crept by all the houses quietly, especially her former house where most of her friends lived since they had all learned in the past to sleep lightly due to midnight battles with the Heartless and other fiends.

Once passing their house, she quickened her pace to the Gummi garage. Her plan was to leave just as the sun was coming up; it was her take on the hero riding off into the sunset. That left her about ten minutes to get to the garage, hope she had the right pass code to get into the garage, and borrow—steal—a Gummi. And she could just see the garage now from her vantage on the last hilltop.

Nothing could stop her now. She raced down the hill, throwing caution to the wind. In mere minutes, she would be leaving this place and going _home_.

There was only one thing she did not expect: Leon.

He was leaning against the doorframe with his head slightly bowed, arms crossed over his chest. For all intents and purposes, he looked completely relaxed. Yuffie knew different however; she had seen him go from that pose to a battle stance with hardly any time to spare. Like all of them, he was hardwired to always be prepared and always on the lookout for trouble. And, unfortunately, he had somehow discovered that Yuffie was that trouble this time.

Yuffie skidded to a stop and glared at him. Before she could open her mouth to yell at him to move, he raised his head slightly and stared at her from under his hair. "Somehow, I knew I you would be here," he told her as he moved a small distance away from the door. "You don't normally give up that easily on something you want."

She knew that the "normally" was in reference to their argument about three months ago, but she didn't want to dwell on _that_ right now. If she was going to make her self-set deadline, she would have to hurry and get past him. "Leon, I don't have time for this. Move!" she shouted as she rushed him, hoping to surprise him enough to allow her to squeeze past him.

Leon simply stood there, blocking the doorway, his arms still crossed over his chest. "You are not going there alone. You have no idea what may be roaming around there after all this time."

"Who's going to stop me? You?" Yuffie asked as she raised her shuriken in defiance. While she wouldn't actually kill Leon, she wasn't beyond injuring him to get past him and on the Gummi ship. "You might be bigger than me and stronger than me, but you're slow."

"I don't want to fight you," Leon told her, lowering his arms and revealing a phone in his hand. "But, either I go with you, or you don't go at all."

"You can't stop me!"

Leon raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sure Cid would love to hear that you plan on stealing a Gummi after he explicitly said you couldn't."

"He couldn't get here in time to stop me!" Yuffie reasoned while mentally calculating the distance between herself and Leon, and the odds of getting past him and on the ship before he could stop her.

Letting out a small chuckle, Leon raised the phone. "Did you forget that he can access the Gummi garage and all the Gummi ships inside from the computer in his house?"

Yuffie was fuming inside. How dare he try and stop her from doing this! He did not have control over her life. He didn't even want her. She decided to take a chance. The distance between them was short, and she was faster and more agile than him. She was sure she could slip past him, grab the phone on the way, and make it into the Gummi before he was able to go after her.

Without warning, she took off only to slide to a stop when he blocked the entrance with his gunblade. She knew from experience that Leon kept the blade sharpened and honed to the point that it could literally split hairs. "Leon, just let me by," she ground out between gritted teeth. "This doesn't concern you."

"It does, actually." He didn't elaborate. "Yuffie," he said gently, lowering his blade slightly.

"Don't talk to me like you really care! Don't act like you give a shit what happens to me!" She raised her shuriken again with rage in her eyes.

Leon sighed and rubbed his thumb across the scar on the bridge of his nose. There was no use reasoning with Yuffie when she was like this; however, she was also more careless. He could use this to his advantage. There were benefits to having helped to train the young girl for so many years. Without warning, he swung his sword over her head and hit her shuriken, knocking it out of her hands.

Yuffie ducked and aimed a kick for Leon's legs, but he had anticipated the move and jumped back out of her reach. She was also anticipating his move and used the seconds it took him to get back into position to run up the side of the building, flip over his head, and grab her shuriken. It was immediately loosed from her hands and went soaring towards Leon.

He blocked the star with his blade, sending it flying in the opposite direction and charged Yuffie; she was already racing to catch her errant shuriken. He couldn't let her catch it; she could do some serious damage in her state, not just to him but to both of them. Leon sent out a fire spell, aiming for the shuriken.

As she watched her shuriken blaze in the heat of the fire, Yuffie turned and shot a blizzard spell at the gunblade in revenge. She watched for a moment as he dropped it and shook his hands to relieve them from the extreme cold. He dropped his guard, only for a moment, but it was enough. Yuffie took off at a run, preparing to drop him with a kick to the head.

Watching as Yuffie raced towards him, Leon waited for the right moment and braced himself in case he missed. She leaped, and her leg started towards him. He grabbed it just above the ankle and used her momentum to swing her around and to the ground; her head bounced twice on the ground. Releasing her ankle, he took a closer step to her and knelt down. Her eyes were narrowed to slits, and her breath was coming out in short pants. She slowly moved her hand and felt the back of her head, hissing in pain; her hand came away with a bit of blood on the fingers.

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath as she gingerly began to set up. She irritably shook off the arm she felt around her shoulders as Leon attempted to help her into a sitting position.

"Are you okay?" Leon gently prodded the back of her head, ignoring the curses she was aiming at him.

Yuffie glared at him. "No, I'm not fuckin' okay! I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of behemoths." She tried to stand only to be pulled back down by Leon.

"Not until I check you for a concussion," he warned as he forcibly gripped her chin and turned her head towards him. Her pupils looked alright, but he didn't have a penlight to check them the dilation. "Any ringing in your ears?"

She just glowered at him, shook off his hands, and got to her feet. "Look, besides the bruises to my pride and the rest of my body, I'll be fine." She stomped off towards her shuriken, picked it up, and then continued stomping to the entrance of the Gummi garage.

Leon calmly followed her as he picked up his gunblade. He watched her for any signs of dizziness or coordination loss as she walked. She appeared to be fine, but he had to wonder about the large bump to her head.

Angrily, Yuffie pounded in the pass code to the garage; it took her three tries to get it right. Looking down, she saw the bag she had brought with her—it had been dropped when their fight began—and a duffel bag. She kicked it. "That yours?" she asked as she walked into the garage.

As she wasn't waiting for an answer, Leon simply picked it up and followed her to her chosen Gummi. Another pass code attempt to unlock the door, and then she tread up the ramp. Leon stopped at the end of the ramp, looking at her warily.

"Just get in here," she said; the heat in her words was gone and replaced with a wearied tiredness. She didn't wait to see if he would follow and proceeded to the cockpit. The coordinates for her destination would have to be put into the computer. Luckily, the lockbox she had stolen from Cid had also contained the coordinates she needed. Without them, there was no way she would be able to find the Planet. Behind her, she heard the clomp of boots on metal and knew Leon had indeed followed her. It would be too much to ask for him to decide to forget the whole thing after the fight they had.

"Just… just stay away from me while we're in here," she pleaded as she started her preflight procedures. It was going to be hard on her with him so close and in such close quarters. The last three months she had managed to avoid him for the most part and to never be alone with him. She sighed in slight relief when she heard the sound of his boots heading back to where the sleeping quarters were located. She looked out the windshield and saw the sun already rising; Leon had made her late.

-0-

After finally getting the Gummi out of the immediate area of Radiant Garden, Yuffie had set the auto-pilot and claimed her own cabin; it was as far away from the one Leon had selected as she could possibly get. The door locked automatically behind her as it closed.

Setting her bag down on the small bed, she approached the mirror and pulled off her vest, wincing as muscles protested the movement. She turned and looked over her shoulder to see her back in the mirror; most of it was already a mottled purple. A casting of cure would help a bit with the bruising, but right now, it gave Yuffie something to focus on rather than emotional pain.

About three months ago, she did something that she's not sure she will ever be able to forgive herself for. She knew how Leon would view such things, but she was tired of keeping it quiet. Four years was more than enough time to keep a crush quiet.

They had been at the castle in Radiant Garden, just checking a few things and making sure the town's defense mechanism was still in good working order. This was a duty shared by all members of the restoration committee and was done about once a month. This time, it was Leon and Yuffie's turn.

"_Hey, Squall?" Yuffie began as she leaned against the wall and watched Squall check over the programs and networks in the mainframe and run a basic scan through the entire system._

_He had long given up on stopping her from calling him Squall. They both knew it wasn't going to happen. "Hm?" Only a small portion of his attention was spared for her. The rest was focused on the monitor in front of him._

_She started to fidget; she could fearlessly go into battle but she couldn't tell Squall how much she liked him, admired him, loved him. Maybe it would be easier for her to show him instead of telling him…? She approached him, hands beginning to tremble, and placed a hand on his shoulder. As expected, he turned his head toward her. And, before she started to second guess herself or Squall could react, she shoved him against the computer and kissed him._

_Squall froze; he was stunned as Yuffie continued to kiss him, one of her hands running through his hair while the other stayed on his chest. Briefly, instinct took over, and he kissed her back as he pushed himself off the keyboard and slammed her against the wall she had previously been leaning on, arms creating a cage around her._

_All thoughts left Yuffie's head as she felt Squall responding. A low moan escaped her throat, and the hand on his chest slid to his shoulder to pull him closer. That, apparently, was the wrong thing to do as Squall quickly backed away, a chagrined look on his face. _

"_That… that shouldn't have happened," Squall croaked; he continued to back away until he bumped into the computer. "What were you _thinking_?"_

_Yuffie realized that Squall was confused, and when he was confused, he usually unleashed it as anger. It was his way of dealing with the unknown. "I was _thinking_ that I really like you… I have for a long time, and, well… why not? I didn't see you complaining!"_

_He ignored her last remark. "Yuffie." _

_He just said her name; a lot of meaning can be conveyed in just her name coming from Squall, and she didn't like what he had to say. "Don't '_Yuffie_' me! If you want to say something, then spit it out!"_

"_This is not going to happen, Yuffie," he ground out as he scowled at her. He was undeniably angry at her for putting him in this position. And… he was angry at himself, too, for not noticing the signs of her apparent crush on him. If he had known, he could have nipped it in the bud. _

"_What? Is the great Squall, I mean_ Leon_, Leonhart too good for me?" she said sarcastically, venom dripping from her voice. Tears came unbidden to her eyes, but she kept them at bay. The last thing she needed was for him to see her crying over this. "Am I just not good enough?"_

_He ignored her; it was the best thing to do when she got this way. It would be dealt with at some time or another, but not until she calmed down and could see reason. He turned away from her and checked the scan results. _

_Fuming that he would ignore her and go back to work like nothing happened, Yuffie picked up the small stool and hurled it across the room. It made a small crash as it hit some old and outdated computers. Squall didn't even flinch. "Don't ignore me, Squall!" she yelled as she swept his legs out from under him with a well placed kick._

_Squall landed on his back with an 'oof' and glared up at her. He climbed back to his feet, grabbed her by the shoulders, and, again, slammed her against the wall, this time in anger. "What, exactly, were you hoping to accomplish with that?" _

_Yuffie ignored the pain of his fingers digging into her shoulders and instead focused on her anger. "Answer the fuckin' question! Am I not good enough for you?"_

"_I don't have time for this," Squall muttered as he released her. "Go home, Yuffie. I can't deal with you right now."_

"_Oh, I forgot," Yuffie started caustically, "how very busy Mr. Squall Leonhart is. What with all the standing around and brooding like someone shoved a gunblade up his ass!"_

"_Don't call me Squall," he growled; he was very near his breaking point._

_Yuffie laughed bitterly. "And how could I forget that! Of course no one can call him Squall because he has such a goddamn hero complex that he think _he's_ the only able to save the universe."_

_Suddenly, Squall's face was very close to hers, nose to nose and eye to eye. "And you're nothing more than a spoiled little brat who doesn't understand what it's like to see everyone you love die." He pushed her away from, and she fell to the floor._

"_Excuse me? You did _not_ just go there! I was _seven_, Squall, _seven_ and watched my parents and friends die in front of me, then watched more friends die a few months later when we had to leave here. And you damn well know it! So _don't_ talk to me about watching people die."_

_Squall took a few breaths to calm himself; she was right on that account. And, he had no right to call her a brat. She did more for everyone else than she did for herself. He reached a hand down to help pull Yuffie up. "Yuffie-"_

"_Can it." She slapped his hand away and climbed to her feet herself. "Can you just answer me this? Do you care about me at all? Even just a little?" Her back was facing him, and she was not moving. She was afraid that the tears still pooling in her eyes would be released with any movement, and she was _not_ going to let him see her cry._

"_No, I don't care about you…" he trailed off as he looked down at his hands, hands that he had long believed were stained with the blood of the loved ones he had left in Balamb. There was a long pause before he continued. "Not like that." When he looked up, she was already gone._

Since that day, Yuffie never again called him Squall. She had also moved out by the end of that day, staying with Cid until she could locate an appropriate place to live. Nobody knew of their argument, not even Tifa or Aerith. And Yuffie planned to keep it that way.

Back in her bed on the Gummi, Yuffie once again held her tears at bay. After spending most of that day three months ago crying, she had promised herself she would never cry over Leon again. It was going to be hard living in this small Gummi with him; the trip to her home world would take at least a week. And, she couldn't exactly stay in her room the entire time. She would have to eat at some point, not to mention check on the status of the ship. She only prayed that she had the strength to endure this trip with Leon in such close proximity.

-0-

Aerith paced the room. Yuffie's party was supposed to start two hours ago, but the girl could not be found. For that matter, neither could Leon. She didn't know yet if it was good or bad that both seemed to be missing. "You don't think something's happened, do you?" she asked as she stopped her pacing to glance at Tifa.

"I don't think so," Tifa answered as she stood up and looked out the window once more. "They probably got into another argument. You know how that goes with the two of them."

Aerith sighed before resuming her pacing. "Did you ever find out what the last argument was about?"

"Nope. Leon wouldn't tell me." She wrinkled her nose in thought, she laughed slightly. "But I did give him fair warning what would happen if she was hurt."

Before Aerith could say anything to that, the door crashed open, and Cid stomped in, followed by a calmer Cloud. "Well?" Aerith asked anxiously.

"They're gone," Cloud told her. "We searched her house, the castle, and all her other favorite haunts as well as Leon's. They're not in Radiant Garden." He seemed to have more to say, but was interrupted by Cid.

"They took a goddamn Gummi!" Cid continued muttering curses as he slammed his fist against the table.

Aerith gasped. "She really went through with it?"

"She did. And the video surveillance shows Leon went with her," Cloud informed them.

Tifa snorted. "Of course he did. I told him that I would cut off his balls if anything happened to her."

Cid and Cloud visibly winced.

"Let's just pray for the best. It's all we can do now," Aerith murmured as she looked out the window to the sky.

-0-

The next few days were spent in a deafening quiet; she wouldn't speak to him, and he wouldn't speak to her. On his part, it was in deference to her emotional state. For her, it was just pure anger. They only saw each other briefly the entire trip, mostly running into each other in the galley as they sought out what Cid claimed was food. If she never again ate a meal, ready-to-eat, it would be too soon.

But, finally, as she was sitting in the cockpit, she looked out the window and saw a beautiful blue and green planet. "Home," she whispered, as she turned off the auto-pilot and took the controls herself.

-0-

_AN: Since I have this whole week off, I'm going to try and get another chapter finished before I go back to work. And, remember, reviews are always appreciated, but never required. Thanks for reading!_


	5. Chapter Four

_AN: Okay, so I wanted to get this out at the end of last week. But, I have a good excuse. I spent the latter part of the week sick. And since no doctor offices were open, I had to wait until Monday to get in. Turns out, I have bronchitis-again. And I haven't gotten over it yet. This is the second time in a month for me to catch it, and the worst case I've had since I was a kid. The doc told me he thinks my immune system is down due to stress. He has no idea how true that is. So, anyways, here's the new chapter._

_Asphyxia_

Chapter Four

Landing had never been a skill Yuffie had taken the time to perfect. When and if she ever got the chance to fly a Gummi on her own, someone else would take over by the time they prepared to land. She didn't have that option this time. Well, she could always ask Leon to land the Gummi, but she did _not_ want to ask him for anything. She would just have to wing it this time, she decided, as she put in the coordinates for their landing site. She could only hope it the place was still mostly intact.

As the approached the planet's atmosphere, she began to feel the strain on the Gummi through the harsh vibrations that encompassed the entire ship. She held onto the steering column tightly as she concentrated on navigating the vessel through the turbulence. Yuffie never noticed Leon come running into the cockpit.

"What are you doing?" he shouted, reaching for the controls. "Pull up! Pull up! You're going in to fast."

Yuffie spared him an aggrieved glance. "I think I might know what I'm doing, Leon," she said haughtily as she continued to pilot the ship and ignored the worsening turbulence.

Letting out a snarl and pushing the ninja out of her seat, Leon took over and pulled the Gummi up slightly; the vibrations lessened almost immediately. "You nearly killed us!" he growled at her. "The whole ship would have been incinerated if you had kept up that speed and angle."

"Bah," she scoffed. "Cid made this ship able to blast through anything. I doubt a little turbulence would affect it."

"Yuffie, just shut the hell up and do me the favor of never trying to land a ship again." Leon continued to steer the ship towards the planet below, continuously adjusting the speed and angle.

Offended, Yuffie left her unwanted companion in the cockpit and approached the windows to watch their descent. The closer they came to the planet, the more she was able to distinguish the major continents. One in particular struck out at her: Wutai. It was where she was born, the land of her ancestors. It was also the place her people had to evacuate when she was only five years old. Wutai was the first place on this planet that the Heartless had attacked, and the people had been caught unawares. The only option they had was to leave the home and flee to the neighboring continent.

She shook her head slightly and pulled herself back to the present. Through the window, she could see that they were quickly approaching land, and the faint outline of Rocket Town could be seen. Of course, the only reason Yuffie so easily recognized the town was due to the still-standing rocket at the edge of town.

The landing site itself, however, was located outside of the town and to the West, putting it close to the ocean. It took a few moments for Leon to land the Gummi and secure it to the site, but as soon as it was stable, Yuffie had grabbed her bag and was unlocking and lowering the exit ramp, running down it before it was completely lowered. Leon ambled out after her with his own bag across his back as soon as the ramp was touching the ground, then raised it again and locked it with his own unique pass code; it was the thought of Yuffie abandoning him here that prompted this.

Not waiting for Leon, Yuffie took off towards the nearby Rocket Town; it wasn't a far walk, only about a mile to the edge of town, and she could cover that distance quickly. She could hear footsteps behind her as Leon was catching up to her. Rolling her eyes, she increased her pace and ignored him. Didn't he understand that after being cooped up with him in the Gummi for so many days was making her crazy? She just wanted at least a little time away from him before they had to continue on their journey.

Movement at the edge of town caught her eye, and she froze, expecting a monster or Heartless of some type to be waiting for her. She slowly drew her shuriken from the bag on her back and waited for Leon to catch up. Despite the animosity she felt towards him, she had to admit that if there were monsters and Heartless still here, he would be her first choice for helping her get rid of them.

"Do you see that up there, Leon?" she asked when she felt him approach her, eyes never leaving whatever was in front of her.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look at it. "Yes," he paused as he studied the movement. "I think it's bipedal."

Yuffie started creeping towards it, shuriken still in hand. "Let's get a closer look, then," she whispered to Leon.

Their approach was slow and steady until Yuffie came to an abrupt stop, hand over her mouth. "It's a person!" She hastily put her shuriken back in her pack and took off at a run.

"Yuffie, wait!" Leon shouted as he ran after her. Just because it was human did not mean it was safe, but you couldn't explain that to Yuffie; she always had to learn things the hard way. He felt like slapping a hand to his forehead when he saw her waving her arms and shouting at the whoever the person was.

Finally reaching the object of her attention, Yuffie came to a stop, panting slightly at her unexpected run. It was then that she noticed the person-a young woman-was staring at her like a chocobo in traffic. "Hey hey, it's okay," Yuffie soothed, keeping her voice low. "I was just surprised to see someone, that's all."

The young woman composed herself slightly though still looking a little spooked. "I-I'm sorry. It's just been so long since we've seen anyone new," she explained. She looked from Yuffie to Leon, who had just now reached them. "Are you seeking sanctuary here?"

Yuffie gave her a confused look. "Sanctuary? Why would be-"

"We only seek information," Leon interrupted while giving the ninja a look that clearly said to let him handle this. "We're looking for someone."

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for a name.

"Vincent Valentine," Yuffie butted in, glaring at Leon.

The young woman smiled. "Ah, Mr. Valentine. Yes, he was here once long ago, but no one has seen him in years."

Leon started to say something, but Yuffie beat him to it. "Can you tell us the best way to Nibelheim, then?" She looked around, trying to place herself; she knew she had been here years ago when they had left, and she knew Nibelheim was nearby, but she could not remember how to get there.

"Nibelheim?" the young woman asked, shock on her features. "You must pass through the Nibel Mountains to reach it," she pointed to the mountains southeast of the town. "But, Nibelheim is nothing more than a ghost town now."

Yuffie adjusted her backpack, a bit antsy to get going and search for Vincent. She just _knew_ they would find him at Nibelheim in his coffin at the Shinra manor. It would be so like him to go crawling back to that after all that had happened. "Well, I guess we need to get going now. Thanks for the information."

"Yuffie, wait," Leon called, stopping her. He turned back to the young woman. "Where are all the monsters? The Heartless?"

"They've been driven into the mountains and into Nibelheim. _That_ is why Nibelheim is nothing more than a ghost town." She bowed her head slightly at both of them. "I wish you luck on your journey, but I must be going now." They both watched as she dashed off towards the town square and into a building.

Biting her lip and shrugging, Yuffie started towards the Nibel Mountains. "Soooo," she drawled, "ready to get this show on the road?"

Leon looked at the mountains and nodded slightly before following Yuffie. It didn't take long to reach to the foothills, and when they did, he stopped and grabbed her shoulder to stop her as well. "Do you know what might be in these mountains?"

"Monsters, Heartless, and possibly Nobodies," she replied nonchalantly as she tried to escape the grip on her shoulder. "Nothing we haven't seen before." She perked up suddenly as she remembered something and eased her bag off of her back. "I can't believe I almost forgot."

"What?" Leon asked as he looked on in curiosity as Yuffie dug through all the supplies she had packed. Finally, she found what she was looking for and stood up with a triumphant look on her face. She handed him a few glowing orbs, and he hesitantly took them from her hands. Just touching them, he could feel the tingle of magic through his leather gloves. "What are these?"

A smirk found its way to her face. "Materia. I _borrowed_ them from Cid." She picked up another orb from her bag and held it in front of her face as she studied it. "They never did teach me how to use them though... said I was too young." She crinkled her nose as she thought a moment and concentrated on the materia. "Maybe if I just..." Her voice trailed off as a warm glow enveloped the orb, and a flame shot out suddenly towards Leon.

"What the hell!" he shouted as he jumped backwards. "Be more careful with that."

"At least I got it to work," she said cheerily as she placed it in one of the slots of her weapon. As her shuriken was originally from this world, it was created with materia slots unlike the weapons they had found and purchased anywhere else. "You just have to concentrate on it like you would any kind of magic elsewhere."

Doubtfully, Leon looked at the materia she had given him and decided to place them in various pockets as his weapon was not equipped for them. "Do you know which spell is contained in each of these?"

"Not a clue. We'll just have to learn as we go along," she said cheerily as she replaced the bag on her back and started towards the mountains once more. "But, at least we know which one is fire now."

Leon groaned and ran a hand down his face before following her. He could only hope this trip through the mountains wouldn't be as bad as he feared. Though the thought of monsters, Heartless, and Nobodies didn't particularly phase him as they had fought those plenty of times, the idea that they were carrying around magic without knowing how to properly use it slightly scared him. He could only imagine the trouble Yuffie could get into with it.

-0-

Their journey through the mountains was longer than Yuffie remembered it to be. Of course, she was only seven years old when she had made this trip, and there were many more people with them to take care of all the monsters that were encountered. She also remembered that sometimes Vincent would just stare off into the shadows for a moment before the scuttling of something running away was heard. It always surprised her that something as scary as the monsters in the mountains would be scared of him; she always saw him as something like a big teddy bear.

But, twelve years later and traveling with only one other person, the trip was a long and arduous journey. Monsters of all types attacked them, and the battles were never short. Luckily, they had discovered the cure materia, so wounds could be kept to a minimum; the other materia were hit or miss, and it was more than a few times they had hit a snow beast with a blizzard spell instead of fire. But, now that the sun was going down, they had decided to make camp in a cave they had found near an old mako reactor.

"I'll take the first watch," Yuffie volunteered despite the fact she was ready to drop. However, she knew it was better for her take stay up a little longer than to wake up later and do this. Leon merely grunted in reply as he gathered a bit of firewood. It was now that she realized she had forgotten to pack a tent or blanket or anything and winced at the thought of sleeping on the hard ground. She would have to tell Leon at some point, but she was going to put it off for as long as possible.

Having gathered enough firewood to last them through the night, Leon pulled a fire materia from his pocket and lit the fire. Though this trip was his first experience with materia, he was quickly becoming adept with it due to their trial by fire method. He sat and warmed his hands over the fire briefly before getting to his feet once more. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad Yuffie would be taking the first watch; he was exhausted, much more than he ever thought he would be. He supposed it was the strange terrain and monsters. Even the Heartless that were encountered were different than any he had ever seen before and much stronger. And, at times, he felt like they were being followed though he never saw anything or anyone when he looked behind them. He sighed and shook the thoughts out of his head. Right now, the only thing he needed to worry about was getting enough sleep to be able to continue on their journey in the morning.

As she watched Leon ignite the fire, Yuffie could see the exhaustion poring off him in waves. She supposed now was the best time to confess that they had no blankets or tent. "Leon..." she started, biting her lower lip, "I didn't pack..." She trailed off as she watched him pull a sleeping bag from his pack.

He looked at her when she didn't finish her sentence. "Hm?" he prompted when she didn't continue.

"Nothing. Never mind," she sighed. Now she would just have to convince him to let her use it when it her watch was over. She shivered a little and moved closer to the fire; earlier, when the temperatures dropped as they ascended the mountains, constant movement and fighting off monsters had kept her warm. But now that she was still, she would have to rely on the fire to warm her.

"Here," Leon said as he tossed his jacket to her. "You'll need it." He didn't wait for her reply, but instead climbed into his sleeping bag and turned his back to her.

Yuffie looked at it a moment before putting it on. After having spent a week holed up in the Gummi and now a whole day in his company while they traveled, her anger was beginning to cool. Things would never be the same as it once was between them, but she could handle his presence and actually talk to him without anger now; she even felt like she might be able to joke around with him again. She supposed forced contact was what they needed to at least partially mend the rift.

She chuckled under her breath. Aerith and Tifa would be so proud of her for even thinking something like that. "I guess it's proof that I'm growing up," she murmured as she turned away from the fire and watched the cave entrance.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, and she made a game of trying to figure out what the shadows outside the cave actually were. Hours were spent in this as she struggled to stay awake and watched the moon's progress across the sky to judge when her time was up. Just as she was about to go wake up Leon, she saw a glint of red to the left of the cave entrance. It instantly had her attention, and she kept her gaze upon that spot. Nothing more was seen there, but a scuffling was heard as something ran off, and she decided it was some type of curious animal. Briefly, she entertained the thought of going after it, but changed her mind when she yawned and woke Leon up for his watch instead. Without giving him a chance to stop her, she shook off his jacket and crawled into his warm sleeping bag. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

-0-

The next day, as soon as the sun was up, they ate a small breakfast of some granola bars Yuffie had packed and left the cave. The only signs that they had once inhabited the cave was the pile of charred wood they left behind. Around midday, they noticed that they began to descend from the mountains. They also noticed that the lower elevations had fewer monsters, a break they were more than happy for. Soon, the small village of Nibelheim could be seen; all that stood between them and the village was a swinging bridge and a trailing path around the last peak.

Though the bridge looked like it could fall apart at any moment, Yuffie was so excited about seeing Nibelheim that she rushed across it. Leon, on the other hand, was more cautious while crossing; he was not nearly as light on his feet as the ninja and easily outweighed her by at least ninety pounds. He stepped cautiously onto the first plank. It creaked and groaned, but held his weight. Slowly, he proceeded to the next.

"Leon, hurry up!" Yuffie shouted at him from across the gorge. "We're nearly there!"

He ignored her and continued his slow pace across the bridge. It was a painstaking process with all the complaints Yuffie was throwing out with him being too slow, but he would rather not fall through the bridge. Finally, he was within a few feet of the other side when he felt and heard the crack under his right foot as the plank fell away. Using his other foot, he leapt across the remaining planks and landed next to Yuffie and fell to his knees. His heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest while he was taking deep, calming breaths.

"Aww, is Leon scared of heights?" Yuffie teased as she leaned down to look in his face.

He glared at her and slowly raised himself to his feet. "Why don't you stand on that bridge until a plank snaps and we'll see how stable _you_ are!" he snarled as he pushed past her and started down the winding path.

"Pshaw," Yuffie laughed. "I'm a ninja, and ninjas aren't scared of anything. We can even defy gravity!"

Their journey continued like this until they finally reached the edge of the village, where the Shinra manor was located. Yuffie ran to the gate and swung it open, ignoring the loud creak and rust covering it. Leon stopped her, though, by grabbing her arm. "Are you sure this is where-"

"Yes!" she hissed. "This is where I found him before!"

Leon drew back and looked at her confusedly. "_You_ found him? But you were only a child"

Yuffie rolled her eyes and pulled him towards the mansion with her. "That didn't stop me from exploring." Quirking her mouth to the side and turning to him, she asked, "You really want to know, huh?"

"It would be nice to know."

"Okay, okay." Pushing open the heavy door, Yuffie entered the mansion. "It was right after we had to evacuate Wutai..." she began.

_At six years old, Yuffie had heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat' enough times to last herself a lifetime. So, when she found herself in a completely new place, she couldn't help but try to live up to that saying again. All she had to do was wait until her parents were too busy to see what she was doing._

_However, when that finally happened, she was sent to 'play' with some of the older kids in the area. Her parents never realized that a ten, eleven, and twelve year old would not want to play with or entertain a six year old. Therefore, once Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith left her to her own devices, she finally found the escape she had been looking for._

_Of course, the first place she wanted to explore was the big mansion at the edge of the small village. Everyone had told her to stay away from it because it was haunted, but at six years old, she believed herself to be much too old to believe in anything as silly as ghosts. The locked gate posed no threat to her already experienced lock-picking fingers; that was one of the first lessons she had ever memorized. And the door was already open a crack, so she didn't have to worry about having the strength to push it open. _

_Once inside, she pouted when she saw there was nothing of interest. Everything was falling apart and looked like it hadn't been used in ages. But, then she remembered that the _best_ treasures were always hidden; this was the second lesson she had memorized. So, she continued on into the mansion and explored until she discovered that one of the upstairs rooms had a second door to it, this one leading downstairs. _

_She looked down the spiraling staircase and then up at the windows on the circling walls. They were letting enough sunlight in that she would be able to see the entire way down. Finally, thinking that down there might be where the treasure was hidden, she ran down the stairs without a thought to her own safety._

_As soon as her feet hit the bottom, lights in the ceiling came on and illuminated the entire hallway. The walls and floor were made of stone and dirt and had a dank smell to them that made Yuffie sneeze a few times, but she refused to return until she had her treasure. _

_It was another doorway that caught her eye, and she pushed open the door to find a room full of coffins. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she breathed out a "cool" as she examined them. But, as she was backing away from one, she tripped over a crack in the floor and fell against the coffin in the middle of the room. A muffled moan was heard as it was jostled._

_Before Yuffie could react, the lid to the coffin was pushed off and a hand reached out with a gun aiming straight at her forehead. She stared cross-eyed down the barrel of the gun and watched as someone slowly raised themselves up from the coffin. Looking into red eyes and unafraid, Yuffie asked, "Are you a vampire?"_

"And that's how I found him," Yuffie finished as she and Leon reached the same spiraling staircase she had traversed nearly thirteen years ago. "He took me back to my parents once I finally quit asking him stupid questions and let him get a word in edgewise."

Her companion simply shook his head, then jerked when he heard a door slam behind them. "Did you hear that?" he asked as he looked around the small room they were in.

"It's just the wind, Leon." Yuffie rolled her eyes and started down the stairs. They were just as old and creaky as she remembered them, and she was amazed at how fearless she had been at six years old. Now that she was older, she realized that if she hadn't been down here previously, she would have been having second thoughts about doing this. She looked behind her and noticed that Leon hadn't moved. "Come on, Leon!"

Giving the room one last look, he went down the stairs after Yuffie; she was nearly halfway down them, and he had to rush to catch up with her. "I think we're being followed," he whispered once he reached her.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Paranoid much?' She leapt across the final few stairs and struck a silly pose while she waited for Leon to catch up.

"No, I first felt it yesterday, in the mountains."

"It's just because there's no people here, and no one in the mountains. It gives it that creepy feeling," she replied, opening a door with a flourish and ushering Leon in. The coffins were all still arranged like she remembered them, even Vincent's coffin in the middle of the room. "Just you wait, Leon. He's gonna be here." She pushed the lid off Vincent's coffin and said, "Tada!"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "No one's there," he muttered as he thought about the possibility that Cid was right. If so, it would be hell trying to convince Yuffie of that and get her to leave this planet before searching all corners of the globe. "Cid may have been right," he ventured only to be shut down by her glare.

"Cid's never right." She lightly kicked the coffin and peeked inside for herself. Leon was right; it was completely empty. This put a kink in her plans. She had been _sure_ that he would have come back here when everything on the planet went to shit. He had always told everyone, in that creepy way of his, that he slept to atone for his sins. She perked up; she would just have to look elsewhere for him. "Well, that's a bust, but at least we can get some rest here tonight before going out tomorrow and looking."

Stepping back as she pushed past him through the door, Leon was too late to warn her of the red eyes he saw coming towards her. Before he could react, he saw a gun pressed to Yuffie's forehead.

Yuffie froze as she felt the cold metal touch her skin; the feeling was so familiar. She raised her eyes and nearly laughed in relief when she saw the three barrels. Only _one_ person would have that model of gun. "If it didn't work the first time, do you really think it would work this time, Vinnie?" Red eyes became visible to her as the gun was lowered slightly.

"Yuffie."

-0-

_AN: So, it's a bit later than I originally planned, but since I've missed three days of work so far due to bronchitis, I was able to finish the chapter tonight. Please enjoy._

_And, remember: Reviews are always appreciated, but never required._


	6. Chapter Five

_AN: First off, I want to give major thanks to all of my reviewers! I THRIVE off reviews! They're my bread and butter. Next, if you don't know already, I update my progress on my profile semi-regularly; you get a general idea of how soon I'll be updating from that._

_EDIT (01/09/2011) I had a few mistakes in here, nothing major. I just wanted to edit them out and replace the chapter. _

_Anyways, read and enjoy!_

_Asphyxia_

Chapter Five

He had been following them since they left Rocket Town. In fact, it was Risa who had contacted him to let him know that someone was looking for him. Knowing her, she had probably told them the same lie she told anyone who asked for him; she knew he didn't like to be bothered. But, she had also hinted that perhaps the pair should be followed. Whether it was out of concern for _him_ or concern for _them, _he didn't know. He did know, however, that even experienced warriors had trouble making the journey through the Nibel Mountains, and he decided to sate his curiosity by trailing behind them.

Vincent had to admit that despite their relatively young age, the two were a force to be reckoned with even with their apparent unfamiliarity with materia. It was a perfect partnership; he could see that in the way they fought the various monsters and shadow beasts in the mountains, and the way they moved together, as if knowing exactly what the other would do in any situation. It was apparent they had fought countless battles together. But, even so, if the full force of the beasts in the mountains were to be brought down upon them, even they would have difficulty. So, he had done his part by quietly threatening the monsters susceptible to his red glare; he refrained from using his firearm, the Cerberus, as he did not want to attract the duo's attention as of yet.

Once they made camp for the night, Vincent realized that this may be his chance to get a good look at the pair. He stayed in the shadows as he waited for them to settle down for the night. It wasn't long before they had a small fire roaring in their cave, and the young woman came to cave entrance for watch duty.

Sure that he would not be heard or seen, Vincent silently edged closer to their shelter to get a better vantage. Here, he was able to see that the girl was, at the oldest, just barely out of her teens. It was with slight wonder that he contemplated the hardships she must've seen in her short life to have become such a seasoned warrior. But, they all had seen hardships in the last years. He studied her, taking in the dark, wide eyes and short black hair that seemed to tug at his memories. Once upon a time, he may have known someone who looked like her, but he could not recall who. Vincent shoved the memories back; this was not the time to dwell on the past. His eyes focused on the girl once more.

He lost track of time as watched her eyes dart around at the shadows and listened as she mumbled under her breath. But, then he noticed her eyes were on him. As quietly as possibly, he backed away from his spot, startling a rabbit as he did so. Luckily, her attention moved from him to the rabbit, then to waking her partner for the next watch.

The man, Vincent noted, appeared to be about his own age-well, his _immortal_ age of twenty-seven. However, he was also more alert and aware of his surroundings than the girl, and his eyes kept darting towards Vincent's hidden spot. With caution, Vincent silently quit his observation for the night and found his a spot further away to keep vigil on the pair. There were many monsters in the area that would relish the idea of a free meal in the middle of the night.

In the morning, Vincent resumed trailing them from distance. As they had crossed the bridge, he learned the man's name was Leon when the young woman encouraged him to hurry across the bridge. The creaking and groaning from the bridge told him that it would soon need repairs again, and he watched as Leon cracked a board. Yes, it would definitely need to be repaired; he made a mental note to do this himself the next time he was through here. Right now though, he needed to continue following these two and see what they wanted.

Once they reached Nibelheim, the pair wasted no time in deliberating what to do next; they seemed to know exactly where they were going. Well, the young woman seemed to. Leon appeared to be following her lead as they entered the gate to the Shinra manor. Vincent thought it odd that strangers would know to search the mansion for him. Most people only knew that he came from Nibelheim; very few knew that he once 'lived' in the Shinra manor.

He waited a few moments after they had entered the mansion before proceeding through the gate and following them to the door. The mansion looked much the same as it had when he had been awakened from his nightmarish sleep thirteen years ago; it was still in disrepair and should have been condemned long ago. Of course, in a ghost town such as Nibelheim, who would worry about such things?

The interior of the mansion hadn't fared much better than the exterior; weeds were pushing up through the cracks and holes in the floorboards and a heavy layer of dirt and grime covered everything. It also appeared that the place had been looted since he had been here last. What little furniture remained in the house had been overturned and ripped into. Perhaps it had not been looters after all, but the shadow beasts searching for more prey. They were ravenous creatures and nothing like them had ever been seen on this planet before their sudden attack years ago. That attack was devastating, and countless people were lost. It took years to bring the shadow beast numbers down and drive them into the mountains. But, even still, at times, their numbers grew again, and the attacks would begin anew. At least now, however, the inhabitants of this planet began training as soon as they could hold a weapon and learned the best ways to defend themselves until something could be done to destroy the beasts again.

The slamming of the door behind him brought Vincent's attention back to the present, and he froze to wait and see if he would be discovered. Damn him for becoming so lost in his memories that he had forgotten to quietly close the door before the wind caught it. Hearing no one approaching him, he ascended what was once a grand set of stairs; the years had not been kind to them, he decided, as they creaked and groaned under his weight.

At the top of the stairs, he paused, listening for the telltale signs where the intruders had gone next. A faint breeze carried a dank scent from the right, and he knew they had found the secret door to the basement below. Whoever they were, they had done their research. Not only did they know he was found in the manor, but they also knew to look in the basement for him. This did not bode well.

Cautiously and silently, he approached the room with the hidden door, only remembering at the last second to avoid the creaky floorboard. As he suspected, the pair had descended the spiraling stairs to the basement. He could hear their voices echoing faintly. Vincent gave them a head start before quickly following after them. There would be shadows down there for him to hide until the opportune moment to reveal himself; the lights that had once illuminated the entire basement were now only half-working, providing ample shadowy places to hide.

"-at least we can get some rest here tonight before going out tomorrow and looking."

He heard the young woman's voice from inside the room with the coffins. The moment was now. Drawing Cerberus from his holster, he stopped the young woman with the barrels to her forehead. He had always found that a gun to the head was the best way to stop even those considered to be the most fearless.

Crimson eyes dropped to study his target; this situation felt vaguely familiar to him as more unseen strings tugged at his memories. Then, to his surprise, the young woman seemed to find humor in the situation. Before he could react to that, she spoke again.

"If it didn't work the first time, do you really think it would work this time, Vinnie?"

_-"Are you a vampire?"-_

In shock, he allowed Cerberus to be lowered slightly. There was only _one_ person who had ever gotten away with calling him Vinnie, but she was just a child and sent away to safety. Surely this wasn't her; surely she couldn't be grown already. He would be the first to admit that he could let years pass by without noticing, but surely this many couldn't have gone by already. But, the proof was unmistakable. The way she knew the mansion, the fact that she knew to search the basement, and that she knew some bastardized version of his name.

"Yuffie," he said simply, not letting the shock show in his voice.

-0-

Leon had no idea what was going on, but he knew that he did _not_ like seeing a gun pressed to Yuffie's forehead. Even when Yuffie apparently recognized whoever was in front of her, and the gun was lowered, Leon still had his misgivings. He only had the stories he had heard from the others, mostly Yuffie, about this Vincent character, and who could trust her word when she had obviously idolized the strange-dangerous-man. Without realizing it, his grip tightened on the butt of his gunblade as he carefully watched their odd interaction. He would be prepared for the worst even if Yuffie wasn't.

And he really didn't like the look on Yuffie's face; he knew that look. She used to give that look to him when she was younger, back when she still idolized him. Yes, he knew that she had a bit of hero worship back then, and he was the object of her worship. Aerith had reminded of this anytime he was thought to be too hard on the young ninja, back when they still lived in Traverse Town. Though he had grown accustomed to receiving that look from her, he was glad when it gradually faded away. He didn't need to worry about letting someone else down. But, now seeing that look on her face for someone else? It made emotions come out that he didn't know he even had anymore.

Though Yuffie may believe he didn't care, he did care for her. No one could have lived through what they had without some kind of bond forming. And, because of that bond, he would, as always, keep an eye on the situation and be prepared for anything.

-0-

"Yuffie."

That oh-so-familiar velvet voice coming out of the darkness sent shivers down Yuffie's spine; _that_ was a reaction she had never had to his voice before. Of course, given that she had last seen him when she was seven years old, it was understandable. She wanted to hug him and nearly did so before she remembered his aversion to physical contact. So, she smiled cheekily at Vincent instead. "I was wondering if you would recognize me!"

Vincent returned his gun to its holster as he answered her. "Hn. It has been awhile." His gaze flickered to the man behind her and noticed the tightened grip on his odd-looking weapon, then shifted back to Yuffie. "But, why are you here?" he asked as his crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

"This is the thanks I get for coming here to save your ass?" Yuffie rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip in annoyance. So much for the big reunion she had been imagining. "And, to think, I thought I would be saving you from an eternal sleep." She indicated the open door behind her.

"Yuffie, it's not safe here. You shouldn't be here," Vincent insisted. How could he make her understand about the dangers this world now posed? He knew she was an excellent warrior; he saw that while following them. But, he also knew that the monsters were not as numerous as they could have been, partly because he intimidated some himself before they could reach the pair.

"In case you haven't noticed, Vinnie, Leon and I-" She broke off when she realized she had completely forgotten about her partner in the few moment since Vincent had arrived. "Oh! I forgot! Vinnie, Leon. Leon, Vinnie." She turned to look at the swordsman behind and felt like slapping a hand to her forehead when she saw his stance. "Gawd, Leon! Will you relax? This is Vinnie, for fuck's sake, not a monster!"

Vincent internally winced at that; though she might choose not to recognize it, he _was_ a monster by all rights. That Leon saw this so straightforwardly only confirmed the fact. His gauntlet-his silent reminder of what he was-had been hidden in his cloak until this point, but he withdrew it now. A reminder does no good if it is not where you can see it.

Not having realized he discomfort was so easily read by Yuffie or that his knuckles were now white from their grip on his Gunblade, Leon forced himself to relax slightly. But, when he saw Vincent bring his gauntleted arm around, he tensed up again for a moment. Until now, he had never believed Yuffie when she talked about how _"wicked cool"_ the man's hand was. He _had_ chalked it up to a child's exaggeration.

"Gah! Are you two just gonna stand there and not say anything?" Yuffie let out a small growl as she glared at the two stubborn men in front of her. She knew Leon could be obtuse at times, and she remembered that Vincent could be a bit anti-social, to say the least, but this was ridiculous. Obviously, she would have to take matters into her own hands, literally. Grabbing Leon's right hand, she tugged him closer and likewise grabbed Vincent's hand. "Now shake hands and make nice!" she warned as she eyed them both carefully.

They didn't shake hands, but looked at each other warily for a few moments. An icebreaker was needed, Leon realized, and he would have to be the one to supply it since Yuffie was clearly expecting him to do the job. "So, you're the great Vincent Valentine that Yuffie always talked about all the time," he ventured; he couldn't keep the slight trace of sarcasm out of his voice, however.

Yuffie could feel the heat of the blush blooming on her face at Leon's words. "Oh, c'mon Leon, it wasn't _all_ the time!"

He ignored Yuffie and continued. "It was always 'Vinnie could do this' and 'Vinnie could do that so much faster' and 'Vinnie is wicked cool.' For the first year or two, she talked about you constantly."

"Leon," Yuffie whined as her face burned even hotter than before as her blush expanded. By now, she figured it was a full body blush.

"...I'm flattered, I think," Vincent said, "though I believe she may have exaggerated. She always did have a way of... stretching the truth." His eyes darted to her, and he briefly wondered if it was possible for her to turn any redder.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Yuffie tried to will her blush away. Slowly, she felt the flush leaving and her face cooling. She opened her eyes and narrowed them at Leon. "If we're done with the embarrassing stories, can we _please_ change the subject to something else? Like where we're gonna stay tonight?"

Though he couldn't see the sky from the basement, Vincent could feel it was edging closer to night. It wouldn't be safe to travel in the darkness as the shadow beasts could blend into their surroundings and attack without warning. He realized there was only one safe option for the night. "We will stay here tonight."

That Vincent so matter-of-factly stated where they would stay for the night rankled Leon despite the fact that he had earlier silently agreed with Yuffie on staying in the mansion for the night. But now, he found himself not wanting to stay there for the night. "There are too many ways for the monsters to get in here. All the windows and doors are just begging for them to come in. We should go back to the cave we stayed in last night where we only have one entrance to guard," Leon countered and looked at Yuffie for her opinion.

"Don't look at me! I am _so_ not getting into this." If they were going to argue-in their oh so quiet and calm ways-about this, she really wanted no part in it. They would have to settle it themselves.

Vincent understood now; by saying they would stay in the mansion, he had questioned Leon's leadership. So, he decided to acquiesce to the suggestion of the cave despite the dangerous journey ahead of them. "Then perhaps we should leave before it becomes full dark. The beasts attack in greater number under the cover of darkness." He turned then, his cloak swishing out behind him, and began to ascent up the spiral staircase.

"Hey, wait for me!" Yuffie shouted as she ran to catch up to his long stride. She didn't wait to see if Leon was following them or not; she knew he would, and he would just have to catch up to them. In fact, she could already hear his heavy footfalls on the steps behind her, but she ignored him for the time being. "So, how many Heartless are still here, Vinnie?"

"Heartless?" he questioned at the unfamiliar word. He turned to glance over his shoulder at her. "What do you mean?"

Yuffie looked at him blankly for a moment before she realized that he didn't know-wouldn't know-what she was talking about. She hadn't learned what they were either until after she had left this planet. "You know, the monsters that attacked us when-" She choked on her words; she was going to say 'when you saved me' but remembered that her parents had also died that night, too, and she didn't want to remember that.

Without asking, Vincent knew the event she was speaking of. "The shadow beasts," he supplied.

"Yes, I guess you could call them that."

"Their numbers vary," he said vaguely, thinking of all the attacks in the last few years. "The few you fought on your journey here was low even for them."

"Wow, and I thought that was a lot-Hey! How do you know how many we fought?"

Having been quietly listening to the conversation ahead of him, Leon answered before Vincent could. "He's been following us almost since we left Rocket Town." He remembered very clearly the moments when he was sure something was watching him, something predatory eyeing him from the shadows. To know that they were now traveling with him was both reassuring and slightly alarming, even if Yuffie had no fear of Vincent.

"Yes," Vincent answered, then paused for a moment as he collected his answer. "Risa," at their blank stares, he elaborated, "the young woman in Rocket Town-I believe you spoke to her-was worried and asked that I follow you." It wasn't the _complete_ truth as she hadn't asked so much as hinted, but it would do.

"So, the red eyes I saw last night?" Yuffie asked as she remembered being watched the night before.

"It was me."

"So, you know how much of an awesome ninja I am now, right?"

"Hn."

"Is that a yes?"

"Hn."

"I think it's a yes."

-0-

As predicted by Vincent, there were many more Heartless, or shadow beasts as he called them, attacking them now that it was night than during the day. But, since there were now three of them instead of just the two, the monsters were more quickly dispatched. The trio traveled as quickly as they were able, stopping only for breathers when absolutely necessary.

Occasionally, however, Vincent would stop for a moment and stare off into the trees, his eyes giving off a predatory and challenging look, before continuing on with the others. Yuffie resolved to ask him about it once they made camp for the night.

It was also quickly discovered that Vincent made an invaluable teammate; his aim with Cerberus was impeccable, and if that failed to bring the creature down, his clawed gauntlet would do the job. At times, even his bronze-tipped boots were used to kick and kill a quickly approaching monster. After seeing him fight, Yuffie thought of Sora trying to spar with Vincent as he did occasionally with Cloud or Leon; it made her giggle, and both Leon and Vincent looked at her like she was crazy as she laughed while attacking Heartless.

"Care to share the joke?" Leon asked as he wiped his gunblade on the grass.

"Maybe later." Yuffie grinned and started walking again.

By the time they reached their destination, it was late, and the moon was high in the sky, giving them a bit of light to see by, but not enough. A well-placed fire spell gave them a torch to check the cave for any beasts that may have taken it for the night, though Vincent had already claimed that nothing was there. Neither Yuffie or Leon asked how he knew this; Yuffie chalked it up to his enhancements, and Leon just really didn't want to know.

Another fire was started in the remains of their fire from the night before. Luckily, Leon had gathered enough firewood then to provide them for tonight. And, since they had not eaten since that morning, Yuffie pulled some meals, ready to eat, from her bag for their dinner; she had confiscated them the day before from the Gummi's galley.

"Here's dinner!" she announced as she tossed the packets to the two men. She didn't wait for them as she dug into hers; though it was not exactly gourmet food, she couldn't complain when her stomach was grumbling so loudly. She noticed, however, that Vincent merely stared at the packet. "Aren't you gonna eat it, Vinnie?"

"I don't require food as often as you," he provided as he pushed the packet back towards her.

"Well, if you're sure," she drawled as she started to put the packet back into her bag, then stopped and looked at Leon. "What about you, Leon? Do you want it?"

He stared distastefully down at his own half-eaten meal. "I think I'll pass. Nine days is too long to only eat these."

"Suit yourself." Yuffie put the packet back into her bag and continued eating her meal in silence. Once finished, however, she began looking for ways to lighten the somber mood in the cave. Vincent, she remembered, was usually like this. But, Leon was being more silent than usual. "So," she began, "does anyone know any good ghost stories to tell? I mean, we have the campfire, we have the creepy forest, and we have a full moon."

Vincent ignored her and stared out the cave entrance, and Leon just looked at her from the corner of his eye as he continued with his meal. So, Plan A was a bust, but now onto Plan B. "That was an unusually large number of Heartless, wasn't it? It's been a long time since we've seen that many, hasn't it, Leon?" Wrong thing to say, she realized as she received a hard glare from Leon. She belatedly remembered Vincent warning them that there would be more monsters out after dark and that Leon ignored him.

Aggravated at both of them, Leon especially, Yuffie huffed. Lightening the mood in the cave, she decided, was like trying to get a chocobo to shit a cupcake; it wasn't happening. And the silence was becoming deafening. Luckily, though, before she could interrupt it in whatever way was most annoying to her present company, Vincent spoke.

"I will take the first watch," he volunteered from his position near the cave entrance. He never turned their way while he spoke, but continued watching the forest.

"Then I'm going to bed," Leon grunted as he pulled out his sleeping bag. In minutes, he had tossed his jacket to Yuffie and was zipped up inside, his back facing the fire.

Grateful for the jacket, Yuffie quickly pulled it on and approached Vincent and sat beside him. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, but otherwise did not move. She stayed quiet, just watching the shadows outside their cave.

It was Vincent who broke the silence first. "You need to sleep," he told her.

"Nah, I'm too keyed up to sleep right now," she admitted. There was another long moment of silence before she spoke again. "You know, I thought you would go back to the coffin."

"I assumed as much."

"Why didn't you?"

"There are other ways to atone, I discovered." When Yuffie didn't reply, he looked over to find her staring intently out into the shadows. "There's nothing there," he offered.

She nodded silently, then spoke, "Cid said you were dead, you know. They all did, really."

Vincent wanted to say that he was already dead, that he had died years before Yuffie found him in that coffin so long ago, but he didn't. Some things were best left unsaid. Instead, he asked, "They are all well, I assume?"

"As well as could be." She paused as she gathered her thoughts and best thought of how to summarize their life now. "Cid still drinks tea like it's going out of style; Aerith still wears pink and makes flowers grow, though she's a bit taller now; and Cloud, well, he was lost to us for so long-nine years-that when he came back, he was a little messed up in the head, you know? Tifa, too, though not like Cloud."

"How?"

"He kinda got lost in the darkness and lost his identity. We thought he was dead, then Sora-the kid that's basically saving the entire universe-came back and told us about this guy he fought once. He was wearing a red cloak and gold claw, Sora said." Yuffie tugged gently on a corner of Vincent's cloak to emphasize her point. "So, naturally, we-me, Cid, and Aerith-thought it was you. Imagine our surprise when Cloud turned up in that get-up a few months later. Tifa came back not long after that."

Vincent said nothing as he mulled over what he had just been told. And, after a long moment of Yuffie saying nothing also, he believed she might have fallen asleep. However, when he looked at her, he realized that she was just staring into the darkness again. Maybe he should insist she get some sleep. But, that train of thought stopped with her next question.

"Vinnie, what is with those looks you give to the forest? I've seen you do it a lot today, and I remember you doing it before when we travelled through here."

"...I would rather not tell you."

"Oh c'mon," she chided. "It can't be that bad. I already know you turn into beasties from time to time." She noticed his slightly taken aback look. "Yeah, they told me as soon as _they_ found out. They thought it would scare me into staying away from you. I think it had the opposite effect." Her parents, she knew, had only been trying to protect her from something they didn't understand, but to a curious six year old with no fear, it only made the curiosity even greater.

Vincent sighed. "Chaos... stays close to the surface when there are shadow beasts-Heartless-around."

"So, he's like drawn to them or something?"

"Hn."

"Or does he scare them away?"

No answer at all this time from Vincent, not even a noncommittal grunt.

"You don't know either, do you, Vinnie?"

There was a slight, barely visible wince this time. "Yuffie, must you call me that horrid name?"

Yuffie laughed quietly; so that's what finally gets to him. The unflappable Vincent Valentine can't stand to be called 'Vinnie.' "That's what I _always_ called you," she insisted when she quit laughing.

He gave her a pointed stare. "You were six years old."

"Okay, okay," she said as she rolled her eyes. "I won't call you 'Vinnie' anymore. Okay, Vincent?"

"Thank you."

She yawned and stood up. "You know, you and Leon have a lot more in common than either of you might think." She stretched lightly and leaned down to give him a brief hug despite his dislike of physical touch. "And, on that note, I'm going to bed."

Vincent turned and watched as she knelt down to the sleeping bag Leon slept in, nudged him aside, and climbed in with him back to back. It didn't seem proper to him for them to be sharing a sleeping bag; however, with the ease Yuffie had with nudging Leon aside and his instinctual moving, it appeared they had been doing this for years. For some reason, that thought did not sit well with Vincent.

-0-

_AN: I didn't think I was ever going to get through this chapter. I kept trying and trying, but I couldn't ever get Leon and Vincent to cooperate with me until I changed some minor plot points. Also, I apologize if Vincent is a bit OOC. I've never written him before, but I've play FF7 and Dirge of Cerberus, seen Advent Children, and have read lots of fanfics. So, I hope I've kept him at least mostly in character, thought I'm afraid I made him a bit chatty._

_Also, it may be a bit before I get to work on this again. I have a Christmas oneshot or twoshot AU FF7 fanfic I want to get down and posted by Christmas Eve. So, it'll be after that before I work on this again._

_Anyways, please remember that reviews are never required, but always appreciated. _


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